The Exemeus Blog Tour: Interview with Abeni and Folami

25.8.13


I'm excited to have two sisters, and authors of The Exemeus, with me today to celebrate their latest book, The Exemeus. 

Can you tell us a little about your latest book.
Of course. The Exemeus is really hard to sum up in a few words, but we'll give it a try. It's two stories wrapped into one. One is about a teenager named Hyalee who is fighting against the takeover of planet earth. The second story is about a boy who lives in the world that results from her failure. The Exemeus is a story about how their lives are intertwined.

What inspired you to write it?
Honestly, It was a story that kept begging to be told. Ever since the thought occurred to me during an exit interview little bits and pieces kept showing up in my head. I finally had to bother my sister and insist she write it with me. I guess it was a story that just had to be told.

Is it part of a series? 
Yes! We are hard at work on the second one now and are aiming to get it out by January. It's not an easy process, so keep your fingers crossed for us. Hopefully, there will be five in all when we're done and we won't argue each other to death about who should live in the book and who should die.

If your latest book was made into a movie, who would you like to play the main characters?
We greatly disagree on this, especially since our characters are atypical in a lot of ways. The few we agree upon are

Amanda Stevenson for Mallea
Selena Gomez for Virginia
Zendaya Coleman for Hyalee
Kate Beckinsale for Joycelyn

The other characters are so atypical in look and abilities that they would require someone who is not currently in the acting arena to play them.

What made you want to become an author?
Folami: Reading books with horrible endings. As a child, I always hated the way certain books ended, so I would write my own endings. Eventually, I wrote my own beginnings too and that spawned my writing journey.
Abeni: My sister told me we were writing a book. That's pretty much it for me.

Name one of your all-time favourite book covers?
Folami: Huh, that's a tough one. Although, I normally judge a book by a cover, after I've read the book I completely forget the cover. The only book I can think of is the one I'm currently reading, which is Apollyon.
Abeni: I'm going to be completely different and name a book cover that doesn't actually exist. We had an amazing artist compete to design our book cover. Her artwork is the best that I've ever seen, but my sister opted to go with our current cover. If you want to know what I'm talking about, we used it as a banner for our website. Still my favorite cover ...EVER.

Name one book that made you think 'wow'? Why did it have such an effect on you?
Folami: Since my sister cheated on the last one, I'm going to cheat on this one and name two books: Demons at Deadnight and Angelfall. Those are two of my all time favorite books, because the characters were strong and devoted to their family. I can't deal with a character who spends most of the book complaining, and the two heroines of those books did not. The plots were also engaging and original, but most importantly the humor was different.

Who, or what, inspires you?
Folami: The best sellers list
Abeni: Ditto

Where is your favourite place to write?
Folami: On the beach with my feet in the water. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure I'll love it when I do. Either that or poolside on a cruise.

What is your favourite movie that was based on a book?
Abeni: Twilight. I truly loved watching the story come to life.
Folami: It would have to be Harry Potter. It wasn't based on my love of the movies per se, but more that I loved the book so much that I couldn't help but love seeing the world recreated on the big screen.

Who is your favorite author (s) and why?
Abeni: Jane Heller, because she is so crafty. She incorporates a good combination of mystery, romance, and suspense in a healthy balance that keeps readers intrigued.

If you could have a dinner party with any authors from any time in history, who would you choose and why?
Folami: J.K.. Rowling. I would love to figure out how she did it. How she made everyone fall in love with the boy who lived.

Tell us a random fact about yourself.
Abeni: As a child I wanted to be a singer. I think the real secret is that I would still love to be.

Tell us something interesting about the area where you live.
Folami: We live out in the middle of nowhere it seems like. I couldn't imagine what would be interesting to share. Our family from New York are always interested to see that they pass cows on the way to our house. I guess that's the fun fact: there are cows.

About The Exemeus:
Her short life was devoted to love and to hate. Love of the man who stole her heart, hate for the man who stole the world. Murdered by the government she swore to destroy, she's been given another chance to make it right. But to save the planet, she needs the help of the most powerful mystic the world has ever seen—unfortunately he hasn’t been born yet.

In a world where fear is the only currency, Dephon has committed the ultimate crime: inspiring hope.

His only goal is to make it safely through ninth grade, but on a post-apocalyptic Earth run by the Treptonian government, it isn’t that simple. Heir to a legendary power, Dephon Johnson is the only threat to the government’s rule. And on Trepton, all threats must be eliminated. When hundreds of assassins are dispatched to neutralize him, Dephon is forced to fight back. His only chance of survival is to enlist the aid of the greatest warrior the world has ever known. The only problem is, she's been dead for 13 years.

Giveaway:
1 winner will get the Kindle 6" e-ink,  1 will get a $25 Amazon Gift Card and 1 will get a Paperback of Demon's at Deadnight by A & E Kirk,
a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the authors:
Folami and Abeni Morris are a sister-sister writing team. Together they wrote (and rewrote) The Exemeus, somehow managing to accomplish it without murdering one another. Despite their facial similarities, tendency to finish each other’s thoughts and stick up for each other constantly, no, they’re not twins and thus deserve their own individual bio.
Folami Morris: Folami grew up in the tiny city of San Mateo Ca, where nothing ever happens and no one ever leaves. She went to Xavier University for undergraduate, getting her B.A in physics and her B.S in Biology. After graduation she returned to California, to live in an even smaller city, where even less happens, Antioch Ca. During this time she escaped the monotony by hanging out with her imaginary friends Hyalee and Dephon, and by writing the Exemeus. She finally escaped to Queens NY and now realizes that quiet and tiny aren’t so bad. 
Abeni Morris: As luck (and logic) would have it, Abeni grew up in the same tiny little town as her sister, then she too escaped to the tinier town of Antioch. She has yet to leave. She received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood development from Cal State East Bay. She is the mom of two amazing kids, who swear that they deserve a percentage of the book proceeds and a ton of the credit. At least she raised dreamers.
Find the book: Amazon | GoodReads

Find the authors: Website 

Make sure to check out The Exemeus Scavenger Hunt, where you can win a Kindle Fire or $150!  The first stop is at My Guilty Obsession, where you can get the first clues on this incredible journey for an amazing prize!  The Scavenger Hunt starts on Monday, August 26th and runs through Friday, August 30th.  Chances to win are through midnight on September 1st.  Buy your copy of The Exemeus today, if you haven't already!

For more information about Folami, Abeni and their book, The Exemeus, visit:
www.folamiandabenimorrisbooks.com
https://www.facebook.com/TheExemeus
https://twitter.com/TheExemeus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp9DXci7umQ (Preview)
http://www.theexemeus.blogspot.com

For more information on the Exemeus Blog Tour, visit http://www.candacesbookblog.com/2013/04/new-tour-sign-ups-exemeus-by-folami-and.html


1 comment :

  1. Thanks so much for hosting a tour stop Suzy, we really appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete

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